Thursday, March 24, 2005

Snobbery

There is no snobbery more insufferable than the one-upsmanship of memory.

Wow. Is that replete with stinkiosity. How about the snobbery of a New York Times television critic writing about $300 bottles of wine:

"The London production of 'Democracy' was so much better."

"You think that's bad? I was in Fenway Park in 1978 when Bucky Dent's home run destroyed the Red Sox."

"This is a nice Sauternes. Of course, it's no Château d'Yquem."

Whatever, lady. Thanks for reaching out to us common folks with the baseball anecdote. Now, tell me why a New York paper thinks Dent's home run was a bad thing? On second thought, don't. I'm going to see my trustee for an advance so that I can hire the original London cast to perform Democracy in the great hall of my Auntie's summer home. Oh, I do hope the Richelieus can come!

Getting on with it:

And though it grates to admit it, the American version of "The Office" is very funny - for viewers who never saw the original series on BBC America.

Luckily for NBC, which bought the rights to the British comedy, only a relatively small number of viewers in the United States have seen the BBC version. Those happy few should try to erase every trace from their brains - Eternal Sunshine of the Digital Cable Mind - because the NBC series, though it pales in comparison, is still funnier than any other new network sitcom.

I hope this part is right. There's no point in copying the original The Office. The American version can't just Americanize the show, they must make it new. I'm not hopeful, -- I'm never hopeful -- but there's a chance that the show will work. The real test is not tonight's premiere, but what happens after the characters are established. Does it turn into Friends, where every character sleeps with every other character? More likely, it'll turn into the typically vapid American office comedy, falling somewhere between the wretched Veronica's Closet and the usually unwatchable Just Shoot Me before it is mercifully put down. For The Office to succeed here, it must chart a different course -- more Bob Newhart than Frasier Crane.